White House Communications Director Steven Cheung called two lawmakers the R-word, a slur long used to demean people with disabilities, in a social media post shared Friday evening.
Cheung called Democratic Representative Ro Khanna and Republican Representative Thomas Massie “some of the dumbest r****** ever to be in Congress.”
“They knowingly and willfully ruined the lives of innocent people who had nothing to do with [Jeffrey] Epstein,” Cheung wrote on X.
This isn’t the first time a Trump administration official — or the president himself — has used the slur in recent months.
President Donald Trump called Minnesota Governor Tim Walz “seriously r*******” in a Truth Social post on November 27. Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, used the slur in an X post on December 28.
The Independent has contacted the White House, Khanna and Massie for comment.
Cheung’s statement came in response to a post from investigative journalist Jacqueline Sweet. She reported for The Guardian that four men Khanna named in a recent House floor speech about Epstein had no apparent ties to the dead sex offender.
“Reps Khanna and Massie pushed the DOJ to unredact a file in the Epstein files. Then Khanna read four men’s names from it in a House floor speech, calling them ‘wealthy and powerful men that the DOJ hid for no apparent reason,’” Sweet wrote on X.
“The only problem is that file is a SDNY photo lineup, and the 16 people on it have no known ties to Epstein, the DOJ confirmed,” she added. “We identified 12 of the people on the list, and spoke to two of the men Khanna named, who denied any connection to Epstein and were seeking answers as to why their names were in the news.”
A spokesperson for Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche confirmed the file is a photo lineup, The Guardian reports.
“Rep Ro Khanna and Rep Thomas Massie forced the unmasking of completely random people selected years ago for an FBI lineup – men and women. These individuals have NOTHING to do with Epstein or Maxwell,” the spokesperson told the outlet.
Being mentioned in the Epstein files does not in itself imply wrongdoing.
Khanna said he appreciates Sweet’s reporting confirming the four men were “just part of a photo line up and are not connected to Epstein’s crimes.”
“I wish DOJ had provided that explanation earlier instead of redacting then unredacting their names. They have failed to protect survivors, created confusion for innocent men, and have protected rich and powerful abusers. We must have full transparency and the truth,” he wrote on X.
Massie responded directly to Sweet’s post: “I told DOJ on Monday this might be a lineup, and if so, they should explain that. How long did it take DOJ to figure it out after I told them?”
The Republican lawmaker also responded to Cheung, writing, “Sorry about your Sultan bro.” He included a screenshot of a Wall Street Journal article detailing the resignation of DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, who reportedly stepped down after his apparent ties to Epstein were revealed.
